3 Tips For Handling Criticism For Worship Leaders

Jul 26

Written By Leading Worship Well | Spencer Cormany

3 Tips For Handling Criticism For Worship Leaders

Unfortunately, when it comes to worship ministry, criticism is just part of the territory. Everyone has different ideas about what should be done and, therefore, you can't please everyone. So, you might do something that some people really like and others don't. That's just how it is operating in a church with imperfect people (by the way, you're imperfect too!)

You WILL receive criticism over how you do things, something you said, your song choices. You can't control whether you receive it or not. The only thing you can control is how you respond to it.

Here are 3 tips for handling criticism in your worship ministry:

1 | Learn from it

Every piece of criticism is a learning opportunity. Whether it is healthy or unhealthy criticism there is some element of truth to it. Maybe you really do need to better consider the needs of the people of your church (even though your pride tells you that's not true). Maybe you really haven't done a hymn in the past year and a half and it might be appropriate to plan one in the near future. Or maybe the lesson you learn is that you simply can't please everyone. Use criticism as a learning experience - learn the lesson and move on.

2 | Know that you are not alone in receiving criticism

As I said before, EVERYONE receives criticism in their worship ministry. This is not an isolated incident. You are not unique in being judged. And most importantly, if you feel like the criticism is overwhelming and you want to quit and go to another church... there will be criticism at that church as well. You can't run from criticism, so embrace it and learn how to handle it.

3 | Have a clearly defined vision for what you're trying to do

When you know exactly what you're trying to accomplish, the criticisms don't matter as much. Sometimes the people in your church simply don't understand what you (as the Church) are trying to accomplish. So, they see you move in one direction while they're aiming for something else. Then they criticize you for taking a step in the wrong direction. Do you know what you're ultimately aiming at? When you do, you will be able to make clear decisions and not be distracted by criticism.

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